Essential Travel Tips That Will Help Eat and Drink Better on the Road

The experience of traveling is pretty much synonymous with crappy food—hospital-grade in-flight meals, weak cocktails, and overpriced room service are par for the course. And even if your end destination is an exotic local with incredible cuisine, you shouldn’t have to suffer paying high prices for low quality meals (and drinks) en route.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to game airlines and hotels—follow these tip and you’ll eat better, get drunker, and save more money all at the same time.

Bring your own (good) booze on the plane.

WARNING: It is technically against TSA regulations to drink alcohol not served by the airline, though it's pretty easy to pull off if you don't get wasted and draw attention to yourself. Just know that getting caught would not be a good look, and could potentially result in a crippling fine. Play it cool, and don't go crazy.Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: A strong drink (or two) can be the difference between a great flight or an awful one, but shelling out for subpar vodka sodas is a slap in the face. What most people don't realize is that it's incredibly easy to bring plenty of good booze with you for the flight. You know those TSA-approved, 3.4-ounce plastic bottles people use for shampoo and face wash? Well, they're also pretty great for holding liquor. Check out how Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver packs his Rittenhouse Rye at the end of this New York Times video.
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Pack extras like bitters and simple syrup to make your own in-flight cocktails.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4
How it works: Bringing your own booze is the entry-level move; this is the advanced (though also less risky) upgrade. To actually make proper cocktails at cruising altitude, bring two-ounce medicine droppers (they allow for precise mixing even in turbulence) filled with simple syrups, grenadine, and bitters—again, packing them in TSA-approved clear plastic bags will make it easy to get through security. Even if you just bring a few drops of Angostura bitters, you can ask for a sugar cube and build yourself a nice Old Fashioned with a mini bottle of whiskey you purchase on board.
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Pimp out your high-altitude cocktails even more by bringing accoutrement like lemon slices and celery sticks.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: Before hitting the road, raid your fridge for any lemons, limes, and celery you have lying around. These are all easy to slice, chuck in a plastic bag, and bust out of your carry on when you're ready to start drinking. A squeeze of lime can take any gin and tonic to the next level, and celery will make that struggle Bloody Mary a little more palatable.
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Order free mixers from the flight crew to finish off your drinks.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2
How it works: Most flights, no matter how long or short, offer complimentary in flight beverages like sodas and juices, all of which can be deployed as mixers. Order a tomato juice and combine with a mini bottle of vodka, hot sauce/salt/pepper from the airport food court, and celery sticks from your carry on alongside a couple of salt and pepper packets swiped from the food court for the ultimate in-flight Bloody Mary. Or, if you find yourself on a morning flight, combine the free orange juice with a mini bottle of tequila and a couple drops of grenadine for a bar-worthy tequila sunrise.
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Pre-pack self-contained snacks.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4-6 (depending on your cooking skills)
How it works: If there's one thing that most travelers can agree on, it's the abysmal state of airplane food. Skip the lukewarm mystery meat with a side of wilted lettuce leaves in favor of flavor-packed portable meals like fresh spring rolls, homemade trail mix, and pasta salads. The trick is to pack foods that are great at room temperature, don't smell, and don't require much more than your hands or a fork to eat.
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Make gourmet meals in your hotel room with just a coffee pot.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 6
How it works: If you're more road warrior than A-lister, hotel living can be a drag—especially when it comes to the food. Meals either mean eating out, ordering pricy room service, or making the regrettable decision to pound $10 bags of chips from the mini bar. Here's your solution: Most rooms come armed with a coffee pot, which is actually an incredibly versatile piece of equipment. Make meals like hardboiled eggs for breakfast, poached salmon with cous cous for dinner, and chocolate fondue for dessert, all with this simple piece of equipment. Above, Do or Dine's Justin Warner demonstrates his TSA-safe pho, cooked in a hotel room coffee maker.
Get recipes here.

Or whip up DIY meals with a hair dryer.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 6
How it works: Even if you have no coffee pot or microwave in your hotel room, you can still avoid a vending-machine binge by breaking out the hair dryer. Layer tortillas with shredded cheese and canned tuna, then place it on a piece of foil and melt it with a blow dryer on high. Or create hotel room s'mores by melting chocolate and marshmallows on graham crackers. Even Marcella Hazan, who is known for pioneering Italian cooking in America, runs a hair dryer over duck after it's been dunked in boiling water to crisp up the skin.
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Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3
How it works: Room service often up-charges for simple dishes that are cheaper (and better) from local restaurants. Most hotels will actually allow guests to order delivery directly to their room—something particularly advantageous if staying in a large city such as NYC with tons of great delivery options. If not, you can always meet the delivery man in front of the hotel and carry the food up to the room yourself. If you want to get even more thrifty, take some advice from this Reddit thread featuring hotel employees. Apparently, room service is rarely open all night so the kitchen cooks items such as sandwiches and cheesecake and leaves it at the front desk for hungry guests that check-in in the middle of the night. If you go down to the desk and simply as the bellman or valet, they will often give you any food that hasn't been used—cash back!
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Turn convienience store foods into gourmet meals.

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4
How it works: Just because the only place within walking distance of your hotel is a 7-11 doesn't mean you have to subsist on ramen noodles and Snickers bars. If you have access to a kitchen, grab a can of Chef Boyardee, a bag of corn chips, and some oil to whip up a batch of corn chip-crusted fried ravioli. No kitchen? No problem. Grab a packet of dried chicken soup mix and pour it over packaged popcorn for an umami-packed snack. Or if you're feeling extra fancy, there's an entire Top Chef challenge dedicated to the task and the results include Hot Cheeto macand cheese—not to mention our own bodega cooking experiment with ABV chef Corey Cova.

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